Your Own Path
by kuvira
Summary: Lin has just turned twelve years old and Toph apologizes to her daughter for ruining her birthday.


Toph knocked on the door. "Hey, can we talk?"

"About what…?"

"You know what."

Lin walked over and opened her bedroom door, then walked back onto her bed and sat down.

"Can I?"

"Yes."

Toph walked over to Lin's bed, she sat down in front of her daughter. Her hands were folded in her lap, she sat up straight with her uniform reflecting the morning light shining through Lin's open window. Her grey irises were staring to the right.

"Mom, you aren't looking at me."

"Sorry." Toph felt in front of her and touched Lin's legs, then worked her way up to her nose. She moved her eyes over to where she believed her nose to be; which was slightly off, but Lin appreciated the effort.

"Perfect."

Toph smiled.

"So...you wanted to talk?" Lin yawned. It was only 6:33 am on Saturday. The crisp fall breeze blew through her window, adding a special comfort and freshness to the room.

"Yeah. Firstly, I wanted to apologize for waking you up so early. I have to go to work and I wouldn't feel right leaving before talking to you."

Lin nodded.

"I'm sorry for yesterday. I ruined your birthday."

Lin scratched the back of her head. "I had fun… I just don't understand why you said that, Mom. I'm still a kid."

"I know you are. And I'm sorry for telling you on your birthday. I should have waited. But I meant it."

"You, what!?"

"I meant it."

"What do you mean, you meant it, Mom!?"

Toph sighed. "I'm only doing what I think is best for you. If I didn't care, then I wouldn't have bothered talking to you about it."

Lin groaned. "But why?"

"Because you're twelve now. You're growing up, and I want you to be ready. This world will destroy you if you aren't ready to destroy it first."

"Mom, what are you talking about?"

"What I'm talking about is, you're such a smart, strong young woman-"

"Mom, I'm twelve."

"Whatever, it's irrelevant. I want you to be ready for this world. It's tough, it's mean. You have to be just as mean. And I won't be here forever. I can't protect you forever."

"What are you saying, Mom?" Lin's voice shook.

"I'm just saying, I know you don't need me as much as you think you do."

Lin was silent.

"I'm urging you to start forging your own path. Leaving your own mark on the world."

"Even if I do do that, I'll still be known as "Toph Beifong's Daughter". No matter how successful I am, I'll still always just be The Daught-"

"Shhh...this isn't about me. It's about you. I don't care what other people think about you. I want you to be happy with who _you_ are. Self-discovery needs to start early."

"So what should I do, Mom…"

"When you want to do something, just do it. Don't ask me first."

"Mom, that sounds irresponsible."

"I don't care how it sounds. I trust you."

"And what about Su? You're gonna let her do whatever she wants also?"

"Depends if she grows up to be as mature as you. Your safety has always been my top priority above everything; even my job. If I ever felt like you couldn't handle making your own choices then I wouldn't have told you to."

"You stopped looking at me."

"Oh, sorry." Toph reached her left hand out again to feel for Lin's nose.

Lin pressed her mother's hand against her nose and watched her eyes slowly make contact.

"Perfect."

Toph smiled again. "Why do you make me do that? You've always made me do that." She asked amusedly.

"Because sometimes I feel like you don't care about what you're saying to me. And I know that your eyes mean nothing to you, and they don't make sense to you. So when you talk to me and you make the effort to look- or direct your eyes towards me, it makes me feel like you care."

"Really?" Toph tilted her head and scrunched her nose.

"Also, I like to look at them."

"You see anything…?" She asked curiously.

Lin shook her head. "No."

"Then why-"

"Because people say that eyes are the window to the soul or something, but I can't see anything in yours."

Toph folded her arms. "What are you implying?"

"Oh, nothing! No, I just meant that since they mean nothing to you, the fact that you use them to make me feel comfortable shows me that you love me even when I feel that you don't." She explained.

"...You feel like I don't love you?"

"Well, yesterday I did…"

"Yeah...I was wrong for that."

Lin bit her nails nervously.

"I do love you. You _do_ know that, right?"

Lin nodded.

"What?"

"Yeah, I know."

Toph nodded. "So, are we...good?"

Lin shrugged. "I'm not happy but at least now I know you aren't disowning me so that's something."

Toph half-smiled and stood up, walking to Lin's door. "What time is it?"

"Six-fifty-two." She replied while nibbling on her thumb nail.

"Oh, I better get going."

"Bye."

"Um, Lin. I just want you to know that I do the best I can. I only want what's best for you, and I know that you hate mushy-gushy-oogie conversations- trust me- I do too, but it's so important to me that you know that I want you to be happy. That's all I want."

"I want you to be happy, too, Mom."

"I'm happy when my girls are happy."

"Find your own happiness, Mom. Forge your own path." She mocked.

"My children are my happiness." Toph stuck her tongue out at Lin.

Lin stuck her tongue out at her mom and laid back down into bed.

Toph closed her door and left for work.


End file.
